Music as Mirror: Reflections from Electronic, Jazz, and World Music (CLP)

January 6, 2005

7:00-8:30 p.m

Harper Hall - Herring Music Pavilion

As part of the Year of the Library event series, the Music Department, in conjunction with the library, will host a panel of presentations exploring the theme of music as a mirror and identity in music. Dr. Daniel Koppelman will discuss and demonstrate mirror techniques with electronic music. Dr. Matt Olson will explore the concept as it relates to jazz and improvisation. Dr. John Beckford will present on the topic of identity in the context of Cuban music. Laurel Whisler, Music Librarian, will moderate the panel. Time will be available to ask questions of each speaker, and a tour of the Music Library will be available.

Libraries, from Heraclitus of Ephesus to Google (CLP)

February 10, 2005

7:00-8:30pm

Hartness Welcome Center

In the 6th century BCE, the philosopher Heraclitus brought his newly written book of philosophy, "On Nature", to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and left it there with the priests, ordering them not to publish it until his death. In doing so, Heraclitus may well have invented not only the idea of "library", but the idea of "publication" as we consider it today. Anyone who has "googled" herself knows how narrow that divide has become; our most mundane comments in discussion forums, our memos regarding coffee funds or fraternity dues, as well as our essays, theses, and dissertations, are increasingly taken by the priests of Google and preserved, immutable, for all eyes and for all time (or some unforeseeable subset thereof). Professor Neel Smith of the College of the Holy Cross will discuss how Greek literature has been transmitted to us in an unbroken tradition reaching across more than two and half millennia. What has reached us today has survived several transformations in media, and found a home in many different institutions. Professor Smith will describe how the migration of Greek texts from the papyrus scroll, to the manuscript codex, to the printed book can help us understand the unique role libraries can play at a time when the balance of media is rapidly shifting towards digital data.

Libraries in a networked age: endings, beginnings, and continuities (CLP)

March 17, 2005

7-8:30 pm

Hartness Welcome Center

In our age of interconnected increasingly digital libraries, Google has changed the relationship between the reference desk and the outside world, and network services and intelligent systems have the books on the shelves effectively talking to each other. Professor Gregory Crane is the Editor-in-Chief of the Perseus Project and has been a "digital librarian" since the idea was born. He will talk about the current state of electronic archives, the opportunities they afford to everyone who uses them, and the challenges they face as they grow in size and complexity even as the technology on which they depend changes constantly. Professor Crane's presentation will highlight the central role played by the library, not merely at Furman or even in higher education, but in a world whose primary currency is information.

Permanence of Books

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

7:00 pm

Watkins Room

Nicholas Basbanes, author of four books on books, book collecting, and the world of printing will deliver a lecture on the Permanence of Print . This presentation will explore the issues surrounding the printed word, with special emphasis on the book, from present day practices of destruction and preservation to examples of the permanence of the written record in its earliest forms. There will also be a focus on the projected loss of information as a society and culture, with our overwhelming dependence on digital media and its inherent impermanence.

Precious Monsters: Big Predators in a Crowded World

April 20, 2005

Program 7:00 - 8:30 pm

Book signing at 6:30pm

University Center, Watkins Room

David Quammen, renowned and award-winning science and nature writer, will speak at Furman University during Earth Month. His talk will focus on the topic of his latest book which explored "large predators, their ecological and mythic significance to humans, and the question of whether any wild populations of lions, crocodiles, tigers, and bears will exist on this planet in 100 years." This event will be co-sponsored by the Dean's office, the Biology Department and the Library.

Ron Rash, award-winning poet and author of One Foot in Eden and Saints at the River, will speak at the Greenville Humanities Festival. The theme of the festival is History Flows Through It: the Upstate's Past Through Its Waterways. Mr. Rash will discuss the significance of place and the diverse representations of waterways in his fiction. His presentation will be co-sponsored by the Greenville County Library.

Student Art Competition

April 2005

Location: Blackwell Atrium, Duke Library

The quote guiding the Year of the Library, "The library is a mirror to the past and a window to the future," is from the Vartan Gregorian's biography The Road to Home: My Life and Times. Gregorian was the featured speaker at the dedication of the new library on October 28, 2004. Works exhibited in the Year of the Library Art Competition reflect Furman students' interpretations of Gregorian's words.

Lunatics, Poets, & Others: A Showing of the Arts

Thursday, April 28th, 2005

7:00 pm

Location: CCLC

Anyone who wants to share creative work with others, or even just wants to read a favorite poem since April is National Poetry Month, is welcome, and there's no need to "sign up" ahead of time. Whoever is present can participate. Cosponsored by CCLC.

The Art of Storytelling: Giving Voice to the Past (CLP)

Evening Storytelling Performance & Discussion

Thursday, May 12, 2005

7:00 pm

Location: Chapel Garden Room

Discover the many modern applications of the ancient art of storytelling. Join performing artists Steveanna and Paul Roose as they bring history alive while demonstrating performance storytelling and historical interpretation. Hear excerpts from their programs “A Visit from a Pioneer Woman” and “Honestly Abe” with an interactive discussion to follow. Cosponsored by Furman University's Adventures of the American Mind Project and Department of Education.